Cameroon: the Ministry of the Environment is involved in the validation of strategy documents

The Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development is continuing its mission of piloting the National Action Plan (NAP) project on mercury in the Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) sector in Cameroon.

Five months after the inception workshop, coupled with the first session of the National Steering Committee meeting of the NAP project, another workshop was held in Mbalmayo from 1st to 2nd March 2022 for the review and validation of two (02) strategy documents. These included the Strategy for the Involvement of Stakeholders in the Implementation and Continued Development of the NAP and the Strategy for Information Sharing and Dissemination on the Impacts of Mercury on Human Health. The two documents were thouroughly reviewed by 40 multi-sectoral participants, the essence of which outlines how the Project Management Unit will communicate with other stakeholders. This communication also includes awareness raising of artisanal miners and communities around areas with ASGM activities. The idea is for stakeholders to express their concerns, give their opinions or make complaints about the project and any related activities.

The Focal Point, Mrs. Mereng BODO Éliane Marina maintains that by employing such alternative solutions, Cameroon will manage to stop the use of mercury, in accordance with the clauses of the Minamata Convention.

June 2021 - May 2023 is the timeframe that the Project Management Unit has to proceed with:

- Assessment of national public health capacities;

- Collection of data indicating exposed or poisoned populations;

- Analysis of the situation of mercury use in the ASGM sector;

- Developement of communication and awareness strategies;

- Formalisation of sustainable methods to deal with the mercury pollutant;

- Validation of the National Action Plan.

The participants who examined the two (02) strategy documents on the agenda included officials from sectoral ministries, specialised public bodies and the private sector, a representative from the University of Douala, the Association of Women in the Mining Sector of Cameroon (AFEMIC) and mining artisans from the localities of Batouri and Bétaré-Oya.

Such a mobilisation testifies to the multi-sectoral participation in this project of development of a National Action Plan (NAP) in the Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) sector in Cameroon.

Teclaire Bigerth